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Expedition 8 Spacewalk
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02.24.04 |
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Image left: Expedition 8 Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri in a Russian Orlan spacesuit, like the one he and Foale will wear during the spacewalk.
This Thursday, for the first time, an International Space Station crew will conduct a spacewalk with all crew members working outside the orbiting laboratory.
Expedition 8 Commander and NASA Science Officer Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri will work outside the Station for a five-and-a-half hour excursion to replace technological experiments and survey the exterior of the complex. Foale and Kaleri have a total of seven spacewalks to their credit. It will be the 52nd spacewalk in support of the assembly and maintenance of the Station.
The spacewalk will be covered live on NASA Television. Coverage will begin at 3 p.m. EST.
The Russian and U.S. space programs are very experienced in spacewalks of this kind. From the Russian Salyut and Mir space stations, cosmonauts performed about 50 two-person crew spacewalks without a crewmember inside.
And when American astronauts walked on the moon, no one was inside the lunar modules.
Image right: Expedition 8 Commander Michael Foale.
During a status briefing on Jan. 2, 2004, Expedition 8 Commander Michael Foale pointed out that he and crewmate Alexander Kaleri would be much safer than the Apollo astronauts, who sometimes ventured far from their landing site on a lunar rover.
Foale said he and Kaleri were confident that mission controllers in Houston and Moscow would act as "our third person," and said this is the kind of spacewalk "we all must get used to." + Listen to Foale's Comments (2:32/2.3Mb mp3)
+ View Details on Press Conference at 2 p.m. EST, February 24
+ More About This Spacewalk
+ More About International Space Station Spacewalks
+ View Expedition 8 Press Kit (5.9Mb PDF)
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Carl Walz Congratulates Michael Foale
Listen to downlinked audio as Expedition 4 Flight Engineer Carl Walz, in Washington, D.C., congratulates Expedition 8 Commander Michael Foale on the Space Station for breaking the record for cumulative time spent in space by an American astronaut.
+ Real Audio (1.5 Mb)
+ MP3 (3 Mb) |
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Expedition 8 Imagery
The International Space Station's Expedition 8 crew lives and works in space.
+ View |
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Explore the Space Station
Check out this interactive view of the International Space Station.
+ View this interactive feature |
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